The Many Faces of Dean Winchester
The face has 98 muscles and Jensen Ackles in the role of Dean Winchester uses every one of them to perfection. Jensen is an incredibly talented actor and, whether he is in funny or serious mode, the facial expressions of Dean Winchester can really brighten up my day. For the winter hiatus, I thought a collection of Dean-expressions would help fill the absence of Supernatural for a while. These were fun to put together and just a little fluff to hold us over till January 6th.
For a little science lesson, it takes 37 muscles to frown, and 22 muscles to smile. So smiling conserves energy, and should be used as often as possible. One thing we don’t see a lot of on Supernatural is smiling but it does occur occasionally, so here are some nice Dean smiles to enjoy. And yeah, for some of these, I had to go all the way back to the pilot!
Of course there is this type of smile too, which is more the “The cat that ate the canary” smile.
And then there is the glazed over, wide-eyed smile he gets when confronted with an attractive member of the opposite sex, usually with a voluptuous bosom. We DEFINITELY need more of this smile!
Now that we have covered the most important facial muscles, what does the remainder of those 98 muscles do? Some of the most elaborate expressions on TV.
For instance here is the “Caught, but won’t admit it” face used to ascertain innocence to bad guys and cops. Also to deny acknowledgement that Sammy’s point of view is right.
Not to be confused with the “Really? I don’t believe a word of it” face. Love this look in Dean. Wish we could see more of it too.
This is the “I am so frustrated at Sammy, I could scream” face. Love these the most! GREAT expressions from Sam too!
And here are the funniest “confused” expression I’ve seen.
Here is “The gig is up” face.
Not to be confused with the “Chipmunk” face. Dean has a lot of food faces but this is my favorite. You know, Jared looks like he is REALLY trying to suppress a smile here. I wonder how many times they had to redo this take because Jared DID roar! Who could blame him if he did?
And then there are the faces that are simply to make us smile, thereby conserving energy, of course!
Unfortunately there are faces that make us cry too.
Let’s not forget “Singing” Dean either. How about his rendition of Asia in “Mystery Spot”
…or his performance of REO Speedwagon. Love the crinkle nose effect.
Then there is Dean singing “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
And who can forget Jensen’s legendary interpretation of “Eye of the Tiger” during “Yellow Fever”
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Dean does “Fear” better than anyone I know, and out and out terror fantastically.
Classic Dean is the “WTF?” face. Oh, he has SOOOO many but these are my favorites.
And his anger can have a definite comic tone to it…sometimes.
Now, this I call the “Han Solo” look. Ok, I didn’t just do the face here but hey, it SO gives new meaning to the concept of “cool” Dean. Guns and the impala work too!
Of course there is the Han Solo in carbonite also. All okay Dean?
Let’s not forget the James Dean aspect of Dean either, leather and all.
And we certainly can’t forget the “HOT, HOT, HOT” look.
Let’s see now…how would you describe these?
Oops, diverging here. Must stick to faces only. (Smile)
As for these…well, words just fail me.
I could go on, but I guess you get the picture.
The character of Dean Winchester is one of the most expressive ones on TV today as far as I’m concerned, and that is thanks to the talented actor who brings the character to life every week. No matter how comical or serious the script, Dean will always have the sweet little boy mystique that makes him so endearing to his fans and that is all part and parcel of the personality of the actor who portrays him. Hats off to Jensen Ackles for the great job he does each week, and may we have many more photos of funny faces to treasure in seasons to come.
Ooooh, so many fine faces here to brighten up this dark Monday morning!
This must have been such an enjoyable article to do research for!
Thanks Sablegreen.
Very good article idea: the choice of photos showing rather good mood brightens my snowy Monday and unbearable hellhatus!
What a gift! thanks do much. I miss the coat… please who ever has it …give it back! By the by… does anyone know the significance of the silver ring Dean has worn since the beginning of the show? Just can’t recall ever knowing that.
Fantastic picture collection. Thanks again I ha8 the hell8us…
Thank you for the pretties on an early Monday morning.
Glad you liked the photos! And yes, happy ones always brighten ANY mood. We just need to see more happy ones than sad ones for the second half of the season. Thanks for reading!
Sablegreen, that was a fabulous early Christmas present! (I wonder if Santa could slip a Dean into my stocking… That sounds somewhat kinky.. Oh well!)
A wonderful way to brighten up a gloomy Monday. Thank you Dean. Thank you Jensen. And THANK YOU SABLEGREEN!
(Have a wonderful first Christmas with the new babe. It’s a really special day when you’ve got an infant in the house.)
Happy holidays!
Pragmatic Dreamer 😀
So many faces, and each one more special than the other. Dammit! I like too much, TOO MUCH of this actor. 😳 8)
This is a lovely way to help pass the time during hellatus! Thank you! Rest assured, I shall be visiting again…and again…and again…
An early Christmas gift. Thank you so much. Love Dean, love Jensen Ackles. The expressions this guy can do, but you forgot my favourite expression of all. The I’m going to kill you expression he saves up for all those special people. Oh! the shivers!
Thanks so much for the Christmas treat!
It’s always a treat to stare into the sun! 8)
Dean is such a complicated character and a badass hero, and Jensen brings that out in each and every expression. Loved it! 😛
(missing the smiles lately, and also THE COAT!!!) :sigh:
Thanks!!! Definitely brightened up my cloudy, dreary Monday!!
Now THAT brightened up my Monday mood after a bad weekend. Thank you very much. That makes for a really special Christmas present. And thank you, Jensen, for breathing such beautiful life into Dean. I am continuously floored by what he is able to do. I always think of his expression in Point of No Return, just after he says “Yes” to Micheal, and he’s looking down at Sam on the floor. The seamless shift in that expression, gets me every time. I almost can’t tell where it happens or how. And then he adds THAT WINK, and I marvel how every once in a while, his face can speak volumes, seemingly without him moving a muscle. It’s awesome that he has such a great gift that he can share with us.
Thank you so much, Sablegreen. I have had such heartache this season [Season 7](really starting last season). I really needed some uplifting reminders why I endure Supernatural masochism.
Fan-freaking-tastic. His facials really are fabulous. As much as I love it when Dean decides to conserve energy, or leer seductively, or use his powerful lip lick…my favorite face of Dean has to be his (thank you Randal for pointing out the perfect bad asseness of it) “I’m so pissed and someone is gonna pay” face of doom. DangerousDean is…well, just look!
[img]http://winchesterbros.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=201165&fullsize=1[/img]
Drat, that didn’t work. Take 2
[url]http://winchesterbros.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=201165&fullsize=1[/url]
Yep! When Dean shows that face LOOK OUT!!!
That’s the face I was talking about! Scary, but in a good way.
This is a lovely collection! Thanks for brightening my day!
I agree with Secretwillow. I remember and treasure that scene. Amazing talent.
Maybe we’ll get a Part 2 of this article/collection??? Pretty please?
as I have about a thousand Dean expressions, a part II is certainly doable in the future.
Sablegreen, you did the ‘frustrated with Sam’ looks, how about doing the ‘I love Sammy’ looks, or the ‘you touch Sam, I will kill you’ ones?
Who knew that Jensen had such talent?
Maybe a “many faces of Sam Winchester” accompanying collection?? 🙂
Actually, check out “The Enigma of Sam Winchester’s Hair” articles. They cover a lot of funny faces!
https://www.thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com/articles/60-season-six/16323-the-season-six-enigma-of-sam-winchesters-hair.html
https://www.thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com/article-list/category15/1680-the-enigma-of-sam-winchesters-hair.html
https://www.thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com/article-list/category15/9523-the-season-five-engima-of-sam-winchesters-hair.html
OK, sorry to hog. Just thought about that “I’m going to kill you and serve you up on a platter” face.. like the one he gave Dick Roman. There have to be a few of those!
Jensen is also expert at making Dean’s face display absolute and total despair. Although there have been several “looks of total despair†over the years, the one that immediately comes to mind is the look in Dean’s eyes, while a tear rolls down one cheek, following his conversation with Satan in Sammy’s body (The End).
Hi Sablegreen
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I loved them all, especially the ‘cat ate the canary’ expressions.
I miss that Cheshire grin.
Jensen certainly has proven to be a very versatile actor.
Thank you for this article. It made me happy on this snowed-in Tuesday. 😆
Dean is such a cool and complex character and Jensen is such a great actor. I don’t know anyone else who could have done Dean justice.
Please do a Part 2.
That’s really strange! I tested out those links last night before posting (because I know we’ve been having trouble with the older ones) and the original worked for me, but the S5 one did have trouble. I thought I fixed it! Oh well, whatever I did reverted back again. Try again, it works now for me. Sorry!
Maybe you could do one with all the times Dean has made sex eyes at Cas? Now that would be fun.
You are NOT wrong. This is supposed to be a fun article not one to start a Dean/Sam war. Enjoy the talent of BOTH actors.
Perfect. Amazing. Wonderful. He’s worth every single adjective we could find in the dictionary to describe something good and precious. Thanks!
I loved this! You need the angry Dean face, one of the hottest things ever. May I add the face when we first discover Dean discovering Magic Fingers? And the little boy face that Jared mentioned in a con, when they won the Millionth Customer in Biggerson’s Restaurant. And my own favorite from AHBL2, when Sam confronts Dean on his demon deal, and promises to save him, then Bobby comes and says they have a war to fight, Dean smiles so sweetly, just a beautiful expression on his face, in such a tragic moment – I die everytime I watch it.
*drools* And “sweet little boy mystique”. That’s the kind of descriptor that matches Dean so well but I couldn’t put my finger on it before. Augh.